Japan and the European Union

Abstract

Approaching the European Union confronts an outside actor with many complexities: the EU is the most cohesive regional block that has so far been created, endowed with genuine supranational features, an inchoate “Common Foreign and Security Policy” (CFSP), and an expanding cluster of common policies of international relevance in all kinds of fields ranging from environmental issues to development aid. According to the Treaty of Rome, external economic relations are the prerogative of the Commission of the EU, which acts on behalf of the member states. Accordingly, any outside actor has to deal with the Commission in the economic area where the Western European states are particularly important, but there are also regular political consultations at various levels. The most visible manifestation of the EU as an international actor in itself is, for example, the Delegation of the European Community in many capitals, including Tokyo. On the other hand, the member states still pursue their own economic policies, and the CFSP is still very limited. This leads to the necessity for an external actor to deal with the individual member states as well as the Commission, creating complexities but also opportunities for the outside actor. From the outside, the EU often looks more coherent and powerful than from the inside, where people are more aware of the constant struggle to achieve consensus.